Esoteric Survey

Gerald Thurston for Lightolier, ikebana vase and  trompe l'oeil table Marg Loring owl and Carl Aubock Heath and Dansk

 Evelyn Ackerman, Finn Juhl, Isamu Noguchi Isamu Kenmochi and Mel Smilow Stuffs Luther Conover at my favorite rest stop.

 Raul Coronel, Isamu Noguchi,Peter Shire, David Stewart and Rose Dodds Another Isamu Noguchi Akari lamp Raul Coronel lion Peter Shire wood cup from 1988

 John Follis for Architectural Pottery, fake Tackett cansiers and a Kenji Fujita vessel. Pond Farm / Marguerite Wildenhain Ben Seibel for Jenfred Ware. Distributed by Raymor. Ashtray from the Craig Ellwood designed South Bay Bank Stool by Phillip Lewis, as seen in the exhibition, STOOLS from the JF Chen Collection , by  Marta  &  JF Chen . More on the exhibition, here .  A book was published by Marta and JF Chen.  I've had a number of these stools over the years but never knew who designed them. I was told by a dealer who I purchased one from that he once had one with a Made in Japan sticker under the seat. That turns out to be not true. It turns out that they were made by a San Francisco Bay Area woodworker named Phillip Lewis. The information came from the family who purchased one from a friend in San Francisco. Fortunately that information came about about as Marta was cataloging the exhibition and I was able to pass along the information. The f...

Casa Jardín Ortega  (1942) by Luis  Barragán . This project started out as the first house the architect designed for himself. The property was part of a larger parcel  he  purchased and subdivided. There was a small existing structure when he purchased it. The Ortega house is special, not only because it's so early in his career but it was also initially designed for the architect to use himself. It showcases many ideas  Barragán would use over and over again in other works. Barragán said this about the house: “In 1941, I made my first garden in Mexico City. I acquired a piece of land with different levels, I complemented and leveled different platforms to create a garden in compartments, recalling the beauty of the patios and gardens of the Alhambra and the Generalife in Spain“ Barragán  lived in the house until 1947. He then sold it to Alfredo Ortega , a master silversmith. Barragan did not go far. The second and final house he built for himself is ...